Too Much of a Good Thing

~ Written by Diane Bernhard ~

As the Standard Bearer for my Girl Scout Troop — oh so many years ago — I learned that there were several things that had to be done to show proper respect for the United States Flag. Some of the most emphasized regulations concerned the proper raising and lowering of the Flag and the proper folding of the Flag for overnight storing. Recently, I checked websites online to see if memory still served and I found several things that I think we need to consider.

Image Courtesy of Liz Detter

The United States Flag Code, signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 22, 1942 states: “When a Flag is lowered no part of it should touch the ground or any other object. It should be received by waiting hands and arms. In order to store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.” I wonder how many hands and arms will be needed to lower a flag the size — 30′ by 60′ — proposed by Earl Stuart Toyota and where will they come from?

APEX Flag Company, a well-known manufacturer of flags and banners states: “When you get into a flag of this size it is a ton to handle.” The site suggests that the flag be kept up permanently and suggests the purchase of three flags to be used in rotation so that no flag is subjected to undue stress. That still means that the flag must be lowed sometimes – for rotation, cleaning, repairs and severe storms — and thus still presents the problem of which and how many people will be required to receive the flag. And where will they stand — amongst the parked cars, in the street, or in the park?

Image courtesy of Liz Detter

Section 6a reads: “It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.”

The website ehow.com offers instructions on “How to light a Flag on a Flag Pole”. They recommend a 50 watt halogen solar spotlight to light the flag on a 15 to 30 foot flagpole. The bulb should be placed on the ground and directed towards the pole just below the flag. The light source should be located at a distance of ½ half the height of the flagpole. Under “Tips and warnings” — “If the flagpole is 50 feet or higher a larger spotlight is recommended for lighting a flag at that height.” I wonder how many bulbs and at what strength it will take to light a 30′ by 60′ flag at 341 feet in the air? How will that affect the quality of life for the people who live for miles around it? Note: I know from personal experience, the snapping of a 3’ x 5’ banner in strong winds can sound like a series of gunshots. What would a 30’ x 50’ flag sound like?

Section 8 of the Federal Flag Code protects flags from commercial use: “The Flag shall never be used for advertising purposes in any matter whatsoever.” I wonder how hard it will be to resist saying, “Come see our showroom, conveniently located under the largest American Flag in the country.” Or to resist putting the Flag on dealership business cards, or to keep it out of photographs of the dealership? Or to avoid mentioning it all together? And who will police and report such violations?

I spent time in Marietta, Georgia where residents gave directions around town by saying, “I live just west (or east or north or whatever) of the big chicken” (referring to the giant wooden chicken atop the local fast-food palace). Do we, the citizens of Lake Park want our town to be defined by a private business owner’s attempts to bring prominence to his business? And remember, we’ve been lured by the siren call of having something-or-other bigger, better, fresher, more unique than anywhere else. And where did that get us?

I am a proud American citizen. I respect the flag and think it’s a beautiful representation of our rights and aspirations. But I don’t want to look towards the the heavens and have man’s artwork imposed upon my view of nature’s artwork.

Lastly, keep in mind the Toyota Dealership’s willful misrepresentation of its address. Then you must realize that ‘the Biggest American Flag in the United States” will go down in history as being located in North Palm Beach, Florida and not in Lake Park, Florida.

What is it with rich people? Do they think they can make big changes in our town and then just stuff them down our throats? The idea of a super large flag sound like people buying a puppy and not thinking it will need food and walking. You can’t just put up a flag and then do nothing else, you need to make plans to take it down and to protect it and to protect the town from it.. Just like the joker who wants to close the street and make a tiki bar it’s all show and no value for the town. What is it about Lake Park? Could it be the sign that says
WELCOME TO LAKE PARK
JUST RIPE FOR THE PICKING

No (questions authority), the sign should say “WELCOME TO LAKE PARK GREASE MY PALM AND WE WILL GET IT DONE” I don’t know his situation well but I have been told he made one mistake as others have done, he went through the proper chanels and asked. The people in Lake Park that get what they want go behind the scenes with while no one is looking. A few new cars to the right people and his flag would be flying for sure.

Wikipedia: ACUITY [Insurance Co.] raised the tallest flagpole in the United States on July 2, 2005 [in Sheboygan, Wisconsin]. The steel pole is 338 feet (103 m) high, 6 feet (1.8 m) wide at the base, weighs 65 tons (without the flag), and is sunk into a 550-ton block of concrete that is 40 feet (12 m) deep, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and reinforced by steel rods. The flag is 120 feet (37 m) by 60 feet (18 m), or 7,200 square feet (670 m²). Each star is 3 feet (0.91 m) high and each stripe is 4½ feet wide. It weighs 300 pounds.[5] This flag and flagpole outdid an earlier Acuity record, a flag raised June 2, 2003, atop a 150-foot (46 m) flagpole. Oddly enough, the new flagpole is actually a replacement; the old pole toppled over due to stress and high winds, almost falling onto nearby Interstate 43. The new flagpole is designed with extra bracing and placed much farther from the highway.[6] A powered hoist raises the flag at 80 feet (24 m) per minute, regardless of wind conditions, and is synchronized so that the flag reaches the top of the pole just as the Star Spangled Banner ends. [7] On October 4, 2007 it was announced that the flag pole would yet again be rebuilt to allow access to the beacon marker on top in case of light bulb replacement. The flag was rebuilt and the top section finished on April 4, 2008. On April 7, 2008 the pole, without a flag yet flying, began swaying noticeably during relatively low wind speeds. On April 8, 2008 the ball and top section were again removed.

Roadside America.com: This project has been a nightmare for its insurance company sponsor. The first flagpole crashed in a windstorm in 2004. A replacement went up in 2005 but was taken down in 2007 when it began buckling. The last version went up in April 2008 and was dismantled three days later when a video on YouTube showed it flailing in the wind. The flagpole’s concrete foundation has now been torn out, and it’s unlikely that it will return. [date?]

Wow, I just got forwarded an email from earl stewart! Did anyone else here get it? The man says he’ll “give lake park one more chance to see what the flag will mean to Americans and the world” and calls folks who don’t agree with him about his flag “naysayers” and says they are all on the “far left and far right”. He talks alot about how he was told he “can’t do things but I do them anyway and successfully.” He says he’s been in lake park for 37 years. We should make that 7 years, as that is when his son said they stopped advertising the dealerships address as north palm beach. (I know many people who have seen advertising, to this day that say north palm beach.) He says the “world’s tallest American flag and memorial to the first responders of 9/11” will go up in another town or city. But he never says he could come up with a plan to make sure that the flagpole doesn’t fall and take out powerlines or smash buildings or kill people in lake park. He never says he could put the “largest flag” somewhere else in lake park. Does anyone here really think this is not an advertising ploy? I hope our commissioners stand tall and don’t cave in to this guys manipulations.

I’ve been reading The Palm Beach Post Opinion Zone — http:/blogs.palmbeachpost.com — with a good deal of interest because the latest offerings concern the flag that Earl Stewart Toyota wishes to install at the dealership. Posting #8 is from Stu Stewart and concerns comments about the dealership’s advertising practices. He asks, “Please correct the outdated and incorrect statements about Earl Stewart Toyota’s advertising. We have not mentioned North Palm Beach in several years.” He goes on to write, “Please feel free to review any of our current advertising and web site http:///wwwearlstewarttoyota.com. There is no reference to North Palm Beach and the only town mentioned is Lake Park.” Well, I did feel free to review their current advertising and found several current references to North Palm Beach. Check out “Red Hot Line Phones”, “Fanatical About Service”, “My Name is Earl” to view just a few of the video ads that supposedly don’t exist.

Lake Parkers the guy just wanted to put up a monster flag pole. It dosn’t mean he is a bad guy or was doing it for self advertizing etc. Cut the guy a bit of slack. Or better yet why don’t your ellected and unellected officials run his company out of town like they have others. PBSO is always there as the long arm of the Town of Lake Park I am sure they have nothing to do. Maybe they can sit and wait for old Earl to pull out of “HIS” lot in one of his cars and pull him over to give him a talking to. How dare him!